


Be With Me...Always – A Happy Ending for “The Rise of Skywalker”

by Rey_KnightofRen



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Canon Universe, F/M, Happy Ending, Movie: Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Post-Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Reylo - Freeform, Romance, Star Wars References, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-26
Updated: 2020-02-12
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:00:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 15,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21974731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rey_KnightofRen/pseuds/Rey_KnightofRen
Summary: After the events of “The Rise of Skywalker,” Rey lingers on Tatooine, unsure of where her Jedi path will take her next. That’s when she feels a mysterious stirring in the Force and hears a voice whispering to her from a place beyond space and time...the World Between Worlds. Ben Solo isn’t really gone, and she’s determined to brave the perilous journey to bring him back alive.
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey & Ben Solo, Rey & Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 30
Kudos: 168





	1. Voice from Beyond

Rey hadn’t intended to stay the night on Tatooine. 

She’d come here to bury Leia and Luke’s lightsabers in the sand, in this place that was steeped in Skywalker history. Finn, Rose, and Poe had offered to come with her, but she’d needed this private memorial, to give herself space to grieve a loss that no one else really understood.

She’d told her friends about Ben’s sacrifice — how in the end he’d rejected “Kylo Ren” and come to help her face Palpatine. And then, how he’d given all of his life force to resurrect her, a final act of love that had cost him his life. 

It was a strange sort of grief, because she knew he wasn’t truly gone. He’d become one with the Force, and, by transferring his essence into her, he would always dwell inside her, in her heart. But that wasn’t the same as being able to see him, and touch him. She’d only known Ben Solo for a few moments, and that precious time had felt far too short. 

When she closed her eyes, she could still see him smiling at her — so bright and pure and full of hope. For just a second, she’d imagined the future they could have together, until he collapsed on the ground and faded away. 

Roughly wiping the tears from her eyes, Rey stared at the twin suns setting behind the desert horizon, BB-8 beeping sadly beside her. She hadn’t told the others all the details about her feelings for Ben Solo, but Rose had guessed. 

Before Rey left to come here, Rose had given her a long, lingering hug, and then whispered, “We love who we love, Rey.” Rose might not see how someone could fall in love with the man the galaxy knew as Kylo Ren, but she trusted and respected Rey. 

Rey looked down at the lightsaber she had built, scavenged from her old staff. She’d thought about keeping Leia or Luke’s saber, but it hadn’t seemed right. She would carry on their legacy by forging something new, and she would leave the sabers here, to symbolize how the Skywalker family was finally at peace. 

As dusk slowly turned into night, Rey found herself unwilling to leave the desert. She called Finn to let him know she wouldn’t be rendezvousing with the group until tomorrow, and though he sounded a little worried about her, he didn’t attempt to pry. 

The truth was, sitting out here under the stars, near a place that was so pivotal to the Skywalker family, she felt close to Ben. When she finally climbed on board Luke’s X-Wing and took off, it would be like saying goodbye to him forever. 

BB-8’s concerned beeps grew slightly louder, and Rey laughed a little, despite her melancholy mood. 

“All right, I understand you’re worried about what might be lurking in the desert at night. We’re going to stay here, but we’ll go inside the house now, if that will make you feel better.”

BB-8 beeped his acceptance of this compromise, and together they stepped into Luke Skywalker’s old home. 

It was dark inside — oppressively dark — and Rey wandered until she found a bedroom with a window that allowed moonlight to spill in. Maybe this had been Luke’s childhood room? If things had played out differently, perhaps he would have raised his own children in this place. 

She brushed the dust off the bed, coughing at the cloud of dirt she’d disturbed, and then laid down, pulling her cloak over her as a makeshift blanket. BB-8 rolled up next to her and powered down, and then she was struck by how desperately silent — and lonely — this place was. 

Rey shut her eyes and whispered the mantra she whispered every night, to calm herself and remind her that while she might be the last Jedi in this galaxy, she never was, and never had been, alone. 

“Be with me...be with me...be with me…”

She was saying it to Leia and Luke, and to all the Jedi she’d never even met but whose voices she’d heard during her fight with Palpatine. And most of all, she said it to Ben, clutching her hands to her heart and thinking of his life force, forever merged with hers. 

“Be with me...be with me...be with—”

_Rey._

She sat bolt upright in bed, her heart instantly pounding. Was this some cruel trick of her imagination or a gust of wind? 

_Rey._

Her eyes welled with tears. She knew exactly whose voice this was, but she didn’t want to believe it. She’d waited so long for his Force ghost to appear to her, and she had feared it might never happen. 

_Rey._

“Is it...is it really you?” Rey asked, barely daring to hope or even breathe. “Ben?”

The voice was faint, and she couldn’t see a glowing blue Force ghost anywhere in the room. But he was here with her right now; she was sure of it. If only he had the power to speak louder — she could barely hear him. 

“Where are you, Ben?” Rey said. “Are you...are you at peace in the Force?”

_Rey._

She curled her fingers in frustration, though not directed towards him. She had the feeling Ben was doing all he could; he was struggling to reach her, and all he seemed to be able to manage was her name. But for now, that was enough. She would sit here and listen to him whisper it to her a thousand times.

She closed her eyes again and reached out through the Force, feeling its mysterious currents swirling around her. 

“I feel you, Ben,” she whispered to him. “I know you’re here.”

And then suddenly, the connection winked out. Rey gasped at the shock of it, but before grief could well up within her anew, she heard another whisper, this one louder and more confident. 

_Rey. He’s waiting for you. There is a place — you can meet him there._

“Leia?”

Rey didn’t understand any of what was happening, but she didn’t care. Her heart exploded with hope, and she held her breath, not wanting to miss a word of what Leia might say. 

_He’s trapped there, in that place. He has the power to come back, but he is uncertain. He’s afraid he still does not deserve you, or deserve a chance to atone for what he’s done. He needs you to show him the way back, to show him that he is worthy of redemption._

“But what place?” Rey asked, her heart pounding so wildly she could barely speak. “Where can I find him? How can I bring him back from the—”

_Follow the Force. It will guide you there. Find the door in the darkness, and face what you fear._

Rey had questions — so many, many questions — but just like her connection with Ben was abruptly severed, Leia’s presence also suddenly vanished.

Rey had no idea how late it was, but there was no chance she was going back to sleep tonight. 

“Wake up, BB-8,” she said, excitedly patting the droid on the head. He woke up with a flurry of confused beeps, having missed the entire Force conversation. 

Rey didn’t know what was going to happen next, or even where to go after she met back up with her friends and told them about what she had experienced. Maybe they’d think she was crazy, but Rey was certain of what she’d heard. 

Somehow, some way, Ben Solo was alive, and wherever he was, she was going to find him and bring him back. 


	2. Chasing Shadows

“Are you sure that Rey’s all right?”

Rose Tico suppressed a heavy sigh and turned around to face Poe Dameron, pasting a smile on her face.

“Poe, she’s fine. She’s an adult and a Jedi. She can take care of herself.”

“Of course she can,” Poe said, holding up his hands in surrender. “But I’m just saying, she didn’t really seem like herself when she left. She’s been pretty withdrawn since Exogol.”

_Can you blame her?_ Rose thought, but instead she said, “Rey hasn’t disappeared off the grid. She called to tell us that she’ll be staying the night on Tatooine. Maybe she just needs some quiet time to reflect.”

“She’ll be fine, Poe,” Finn said, clapping the other man on the back. “Like Rose said, she can take care of herself.”

Rose and Finn shared a quick look, and Rose nodded, a silent expression of her gratitude. They were all worried about Rey, but Rose knew that the best thing they could do for their friend right now was give her space. Everyone processed complicated emotions in different ways, and Rose could tell that Rey was craving some privacy. 

Rose didn’t know how to define the relationship that existed between Rey and Ben Solo, and until Rey was ready to tell her more, it wasn’t her business to speculate. But Ben Solo had clearly meant something to the scavenger beyond just an ally to defeat Palpatine. Rose was trying to put aside her own feelings about “Kylo Ren” and trust that if Rey believed he had redeemed himself, then he hadn’t died as a villain.

She glanced around at the few pieces of equipment that were left in the Resistance encampment in the jungle. Most of the fighters had dispersed, but Rose, Finn, and Poe had volunteered to help Commander Larma D’Acy pack up all the remaining gear. Jannah and the other former stormtroopers had left with Lando to try to find their homeworlds. And after many years traveling with the Rebellion, his best friend Han, and then the Resistance, Chewbacca was finally returning home to Kashyyyk. 

“You know, I’m really happy the war is over,” Rose said quietly as Finn helped her pack up a communications array. “But there’s also this strange sadness, you know? All these people that fought alongside us are just gone now; everyone’s going their separate ways, and we may never see each other again. It’s also hard to think of Leia not being here to guide us forward; I...I really thought she’d be here, at the end of everything.”

Finn reached out and squeezed her hand. “I know. But I think she’d be proud of what we’ve done, and what we’re all going to build together. We have to have faith that the future will be better than the past.”

_We have to have faith…_ Those words had a different connotation now that Rose had guessed the secret Finn was keeping. Like Rey, Finn had started sensing stirrings in the Force. Rose wasn’t sure if he had full Jedi powers or not, but there was something going on. Yet just as Rey needed space to work through everything that had happened to her, Finn needed time to decide who and what he wanted to be after this war. 

“Thank you, Finn,” Rose said, squeezing his hand back. “It will be okay. I just have to—”

Finn suddenly froze, and his eyes glazed over, as if he were focusing on something only he could see. “Rey...she’s back!” he exclaimed, looking both relieved and confused. “She just landed.” 

Rose felt a little flutter of panic; she couldn’t help it, after operating on high alert for so long during the war. “Is she all right? Has something happened that made her come back early?”

“I don’t know,” Finn said, and without another word, he and Rose took off into the jungle, Poe following close behind them. 

They arrived at Rey’s landing site just as she hopped to the ground, looking exhausted but also filled with a wild sense of hope. What exactly had she encountered on Tatooine?

“Is everything okay?” Finn asked, giving Rey a tight hug. BB-8 let out an intense string of beeps that could either be from excitement or concern — Rose couldn’t tell.

“I heard from Leia,” Rey said, and everyone stared at her in surprise. Rose had heard about Force ghosts, but she didn’t know much about them. If Leia had spoken to Rey, that had to be good, though, right? It meant Leia was at peace, and was still watching over the Resistance. 

“I also heard from…” Rey hesitated, and Rose felt the tension between the four of them tick up a notch. 

Rey shut her eyes for just a moment, and then took a deep breath to calm herself. “I also heard from Ben Solo.”

Poe and Finn stiffened slightly, but they remained silent. This was complicated for all of them, and though Rose could feel Poe and Finn’s concern spiking, they waited to hear what Rey had to say. 

“He’s not dead,” Rey said, then, seeing their confusion, she added, “Well, not permanently. He’s trapped somewhere, between this world and the next, and Leia wants me to bring him back. There’s still good he can do in this galaxy.”

“Are we really sure that’s a smart idea?” Poe countered. “I mean, we just fought a huge battle trying to stop Palpatine from coming back from the dead. How do we know this isn’t some dark side trick? Should we really be attempting to resurrect Kylo Ren?”

“This isn’t about Kylo Ren,” Rey snapped. “He’s gone. This is about Ben Solo. He died to save me, after spending all those years being tortured and manipulated by Snoke and Palpatine. He deserves a second chance.”

“Look, I believe you — if you say he turned away from the dark side before the end, then I accept that Kylo Ren is gone and Ben Solo is a different person,” Poe replied. “I’m just saying, we need to be careful about messing around with these ancient powers. If you’re gonna bring ‘Ben Solo’ back, we’d better make sure it’s actually Ben Solo and not some crazed Palpatine ghost from beyond.”

Rey and Poe stared at each other for a moment, and then the tension slowly seemed to dissipate. “You’re right, this could be dangerous,” Rey said softly. “That’s why I’m going to do it alone. I will be careful, and I will take my time to do this right. I can’t afford to make a mistake here.”

“You don’t have to do this alone,” Rose spoke up. “We’re your friends, we’ll go with you. And you can bet that Chewie will want to come with us too.”

“Rose is right,” Poe said. “We’ve all been screwed over by the First Order, and Kylo Ren was a part of that, but I’m sure as hell not going to disrespect Leia Organa’s final wishes. Besides, I...well...I was given a second chance myself, after everything that happened with Vice Admiral Holdo.”

“Let’s do this — together,” Finn agreed, and Rey’s eyes sparkled with tears. 

“Thank you,” was all she said, the relief and gratefulness in her eyes expressing far more than words ever could. “I don’t know exactly where we’ll be going; all Leia told me was that I had to look for the door in the darkness, and face what I fear.”

Rose felt a slight chill run through her at the phrase “door in the darkness.” Perhaps it was because the terror was still fresh, but the first thing she thought of was the Sith planet of Exogol. 

Rey must have been thinking the same thing Rose was, because both women gave an involuntary shudder. 

“I don’t want it to be Exogol,” Rey said. “I never want to go back to that awful place again. But right now, there are only two things I fear: Exogol and not getting Ben Solo back. And maybe that’s exactly what I have to face.” 


	3. A Fugitive Adrift

_Long have I waited…_

_Your coming together is your undoing…_

As the Millennium Falcon rocketed through the desolate Unknown Regions of space, Rey had to remind herself that Palpatine was gone. These voices, these whispers that she was hearing in her head were only memories — echoes of a nightmare that held no power over her anymore. 

She’d seen the Emperor disintegrate in front of her. There was no way he was coming back from that. Her old fears were simply coming back to haunt her. 

Chewie, who was sitting in the copilot’s chair next to her, reached out and patted her shoulder, as if sensing her unease. Rey had offered to let him fly, but Chewie had insisted that the ship was hers now. He said it was what Han — and Ben — would have wanted. 

Rey had feared how Chewie might react to the news that she was planning to rescue Ben Solo. Rey knew that for Chewie, the loss of his friends Han, Luke, and Leia was still fresh — a wound that would need many years to heal. Yet Chewie had told her that he’d been able to start down the path towards forgiveness, and now that “Kylo Ren” was dead, it was time to save Ben Solo. 

Despite her fears and uncertainty about the journey ahead, Rey’s heart warmed as she thought of all the friends who had agreed to come on this mission with her. Rose was currently making some repairs to the ship, with the help of BB-8, and Poe and Finn were...well...they were up to something, as always. 

A smile tugged at the edges of Rey’s lips. She’d been searching for belonging for so long, convinced she’d find it with the long-lost family that had left her on Jakku so many years ago. Instead, she’d created her own family with these other freedom fighters, and now she’d never have to be alone again. She hoped that Ben would be able to find that same sort of belonging. 

She kept clinging to these warm feelings, even as they flew closer to Exegol and the mood within the Falcon darkened. Despite the fact that Palpatine was gone forever, this was still an evil place. Unspeakable horrors had been committed here, and Rey had no idea how long it would take the planet to heal. 

She carefully piloted the Falcon through the red nebula surrounding Exegol, grateful she hadn’t decided to destroy the Sith wayfinder, even though she’d told Commander D’Acy she was going to. Something had stopped her, a prompting she hadn’t understood at the time. Now she realized the Force had been guiding her, preventing her from destroying the map that would guide her back to Ben. 

“I really hate this place,” Finn muttered as he walked into the cockpit, Poe and Rose behind him. Chewie growled in agreement. 

“I can’t believe even the Sith would want to hang out here,” Poe said. “What motivates somebody to spend years in this hellhole trying to reanimate the corpse of Palpatine anyway? I think they’re all crazy as—”

Poe’s remark was cut short as they exited the red nebula, and Rey had to suddenly steer the Falcon very hard and very fast to the right, to avoid a ship that seemed to be just drifting in space. 

“What the hell?” Poe exclaimed as Rey brought the ship around, Finn and Rose already running for the gunner stations in case there was a confrontation. 

Rey’s heart was pounding. She’d come here, expecting to find the planet quiet and deserted, but apparently someone else had gotten here before them. It looked like a First Order TIE Fighter, and though it was running on low power, Rey could definitely sense a lifeform on board. 

“Should we hail them?” Rose asked over her headset, just as Poe voted, “I say we blast them out of the sky!”

Rey looked over at Chewie, who grumbled suspiciously. Now that Rey had recovered from some of her shock, she was feeling less threatened by the situation. The TIE Fighter had yet to fire on them, and it appeared that the ship’s weapons might actually be too damaged to function. 

Palpatine and all his acolytes had presumably died in the battle, but maybe some random First Order officer had survived. Although the idea of helping this person might not be popular with her friends, Rey had a feeling that was what a Jedi should do. She didn’t want to be the cause of more death in this already cursed place. 

“This is Rey of the Resistance,” Rey said over the ship’s comlink, finally making a decision to hail the other vessel, before Poe got too trigger-happy. “Who are you and what are you doing on Exegol?”

Rey heard some indistinct cursing from the other ship, and then a loud bang followed by a burst of static.

“Hello?” she tried again. “Are you a First Order refugee? If you surrender peacefully, we can bring you on board our ship. We won’t shoot if you don’t make a move against us.”

“Well, I can’t make a bloody move against you if my ship is out of commission,” the person on the other ship replied in a tone dripping with resentment and disdain. “So I suppose I should just hold my hands up and prepare to be boarded.”

“Is that…” Poe shook his head in disbelief. “Nah, it can’t be. I heard he got executed as a traitor.”

“I can still hear you talking about me,” the other man said, indignant. “Yes, it really is General Armitage Hux. Also, my ship is almost out of oxygen, so could you please shut up and either blow my ship into smithereens or come and rescue me?”

Well, _this_ was certainly an unexpected development. Rey temporarily switched off the communications link, so they could all discuss in private. 

“I’m not gonna lie, my first instinct is to just blast him,” Poe said, staring at the TIE Fighter floating outside the cockpit window. “Still — and I can’t believe I’m saying this — he did turn out to be the spy helping the Resistance, so maybe we should at least bring him on board and give him a chance to tell the rest of his story.” 

“I don’t like the fact that he’s out here alone, poking around Exegol,” Rose said. “I don’t trust him, but we do need to find out what he’s up to.”

Rey switched the communications link back on. “All right...General...Hux.” It felt weird to call him “general” but even weirder not to use the title. And she certainly wasn’t going to call him “Armitage.”

“We’re going to dock with your ship, and then you can come on board,” she said. “We’ll talk more then.”

“Keep your hands raised, where we can see them!” Finn added. 

Rey could practically feel Hux glaring at them through space, grinding his teeth together as he held back all the insults he wanted to say. Yet in the end, all he replied was, “Very well — I agree to your terms.” And then promptly ended the call. 

Rey and her friends all stared at each other, more than a little stunned. 

“Is this...a trap?” Finn asked, but Rey shook her head. 

“No, I really don’t think it is. I can sense his anger—”

“When is that man NOT angry and insufferable,” Poe muttered. 

“—But I don’t sense deception,” Rey finished. Whatever Hux had been through up to this point, she had a feeling it was going to be quite a story.

***

_General Armitage Hux looks absolutely awful._

That was Rose’s first thought when the former First Order officer stepped on board the Millennium Falcon, pausing so that he could be checked for weapons, even though he insisted that he was unarmed. 

Hux’s red hair was limp and messy, and he had huge bags under his bloodshot eyes. He obviously hadn’t been sleeping well, and he staggered slightly as he walked, even though he tried to maintain an air of pride and kept his chin held high. 

This man had done plenty of terrible things, but Rose found herself suddenly feeling sorry for him. Hux looked like he had been through hell; what had prompted him to keep hanging around an awful place like Exegol?

“What are you doing here, General Hux?” Rey didn’t waste time getting to the point. Her tone wasn’t hostile, but it was firm and commanding. Hux eyed her lightsaber nervously. 

“And if you say, ‘I’m trying to resurrect Palpatine a second time,’ we’re going to push you out the airlock,” Poe said. 

Hux looked offended. “Bringing back Palpatine from the dead was a ridiculous plan from a group of insane cultists that I want absolutely nothing to do with. Allegiant General Pryde and Kylo Ren never should have allied themselves with the Sith. Now the First Order is in shambles.”

“Well if you’re not here for Palpatine, why are you here?” Poe continued. “Personally, I can’t really think of a good reason you would want to spend time around Exegol.”

Hux paused, an uncharacteristic moment of hesitation and doubt. Rose figured he was deciding whether or not to tell them the truth; did he feel it wiser for him to risk telling a lie than share what he was actually doing? 

Finally, he let out a heavy sigh and muttered, “I’m here to scavenge Sith artifacts.” 

Poe snorted. “What? The almighty General Hux is ‘treasure hunting’? We’ll give you one more chance to tell the truth, before you get to take a nice little stroll outside the airlock…”

“That is the truth!” Hux exclaimed, his voice rising in pitch, and Rose actually believed him. 

“What else is left for me in this galaxy?” Hux asked. “I can’t be a general if the organization I served no longer exists. No one is going to offer me shelter. I’m sorry if my current employment offends your sensibilities, but there is still quite a market in the seedier parts of the galaxy for Sith antiquities. Before my ship gave out, I was hoping to collect some on Exegol and try to find a place to lay low for the rest of my life.”

“We heard you’d been executed as a traitor — how did you get away?” Finn said, and Hux sniffed. 

“Yes, I was executed — General Pryde shot me without warning directly in the chest. Thankfully, I had never trusted him — I never trusted any of them. 

“Long ago, I had Captain Phasma help me make a chest plate to protect me from blaster bolts. No one could tell I was wearing it under my uniform. I honestly expected someone to try shooting me in the back instead; General Pryde was far too brazen. He also had the audacity to just toss me in a trash compactor after he shot me — I didn’t even receive an officer’s burial! Thankfully his troops were too stupid to verify I was dead, and I escaped in the midst of the battle.”

As proof, he lifted up the hem of his shirt, and sure enough he was wearing a metallic vest underneath. 

“You should have been smart enough to hijack a better ship,” Poe said, gesturing to the TIE Fighter still drifting outside the window. 

“Beggars can’t be choosers — isn’t that how the saying goes?” Hux fired back. “Anyhow, now that you’ve interrogated me and determined I’m no longer a threat, can you please help me fix my ship so I can be on my way? I will pay for your services, of course; I don’t need charity from you lot.”

Rey stared at him coolly. “We can’t let you go back to scavenging Sith artifacts. Even though Palpatine and his cult may be gone, there are still dark powers at work here. They don’t need to be spread to the rest of the galaxy. I’m afraid the only choice we can offer you is to let you accompany us on our mission, and then we’ll drop you off at the location of your choosing.”

“Mission?” Hux asked, obviously not pleased with the “choice” that was being presented to him. “You know, I do believe it’s MY turn to start asking some questions. What are YOU all doing on Exegol, if it’s such an evil place?”

Rey would have attempted to break the news carefully; Rose could see her friend considering the words. But Poe couldn’t resist an opportunity to get under Hux’s skin, and so he blurted out, “We’re actually going to rescue Ben Solo.”

“You what?” Hux nearly choked on the words. “Kylo Ren is dead — it was the one positive occurrence in this whole bloody mess.”

Rey’s eyes flashed. “We aren’t here for Kylo Ren — we’re here for Ben Solo. And yes, there is a difference. Ben Solo turned on Palpatine and the First Order before the end. He’s not actually dead. He’s trapped in some sort of limbo, and I’m going to bring him back.”

Hux stared at Rey for a moment in disbelief, and then he abruptly threw back his head and started laughing. Rose could see Rey tensing, but the Jedi refused to take the bait.

“I always knew Kylo Ren wasn’t strong enough to be a true Sith,” Hux said. “He couldn’t fully commit to the First Order or the dark side. I also knew that if one day he really had to choose between the First Order and you—” He paused and looked directly at Rey. “—He would choose you. Apparently I was right.”

“He chose the light,” Rey said. “And believe it or not, you have that same choice in front of you, General Hux. You were spared in the battle; you have a chance to change your future now.”

Hux blinked; that was obviously not what he had expected her to say. Hux had strayed even farther from the light than Kylo Ren had, and yet, as Rose looked past the coldness and the resentment in his eyes, she could see the pain festering deep inside him. The cruel things that Hux said were driven by the cruel things that had been done to him. He was broken, though he pretended he was too tough to feel emotions. 

“I’m not going back to that piece of junk,” Hux eventually said, pointing to the TIE Fighter and ignoring Rey’s words. “So I guess that means I have to go with you on this ridiculous quest to Exegol. I just don’t understand how in the galaxy you plan to—”

Rey suddenly froze, and she placed her hand over her heart. 

“It’s Ben,” she said. “I heard him again, louder this time. He’s here, but we need to hurry.”

She ignored Hux’s complaints and questions as she dashed to the cockpit, Chewie close behind her. Rose took a deep breath and tried to calm herself, preparing for whatever Exegol would bring them. 

***

_Rey._

Rey clung to that voice, holding onto it like a thread that would pull her back to the man she loved. All her frustrations about General Hux and the wrinkle he’d created in their plans were immediately forgotten. 

“Hold on, Ben,” she whispered back. “I’m coming.” 


	4. Ghosts of the Past

_Wake up, Ben Solo, wake up. She is coming for you. The door is opening, but it will not be open for long. Rise..._

Ben slowly opened his eyes, having no idea where he was or what had happened to him. The last thing he remembered was staring at Rey on Exegol — she was smiling, and looking at him with such hope and promise that his heart had shattered. Because even though that one moment with her was the best moment of his life, it was doomed to be just that — one moment — as his body gave out and he became one with the Force. 

Ben had known he was going to die when he shut his eyes and placed his hand on Rey, transferring his own lifeforce into her. His body had been broken by Palpatine, and by that point he barely had the strength to stand. It would take all he had left in order to save her. 

But when he saw her lifeless body just lying there in the dust, he determined he would do whatever it took to bring her back. He would die so that she could live — that was a price he would gladly pay. 

He hadn’t expected her to kiss him, even though he’d loved her since that moment in the snowy forest on Starkiller Base. 

That night she’d reached out her hand, and Anakin’s saber had snapped into it, the power of the Force surging around her. Ben should have been angry then, when the saber had ignored his own call, but instead he’d just stared at Rey in awe. 

He’d been fighting to bury his feelings for the scavenger ever since, but he’d never quite succeeded. She’d always seen through the cracks in his mask, and though he’d fallen hopelessly in love with her, he knew she’d never join him in the darkness and he could never join her in the light. 

At least, he’d thought that until their fight on the ruins of the Death Star, when she stabbed him and then — with tears shining in her eyes — healed him. 

“I did want to take your hand...Ben’s hand,” she’d told him, and that had been the moment “Kylo Ren” died once and for all. He still didn’t believe he was worthy of redemption, but he could go and help Rey fight Palpatine. He’d felt her terror and her pain through the Force, and he had wanted her to know that she wasn’t alone. 

“Don’t go, Ben, please don’t go!” she’d cried over him as he’d slipped away after healing her. But he didn’t have the power to stay. He’d closed his eyes, and given himself over to the Force. 

He wasn’t quite sure what he’d been expecting the afterlife to be like for a Force user, but he’d accepted his fate with peace. Perhaps the ghosts of past Jedi would appear to guide him. Wherever he was, Snoke or Palpatine couldn’t touch him anymore — and they couldn’t touch Rey either. She was free; that was what mattered most.

Even though Ben’s eyes were open now, his vision remained blurry. He rubbed his eyes as he sat up, feeling strangely normal. He had assumed he’d feel more, well, “ephemeral” in the afterlife. He looked down at his hands, and they looked like regular human hands — no glowing blue aura surrounded him. Apparently he wasn’t a Force ghost...at least, not yet. 

He found himself sitting in a secluded garden at nighttime. Strange plants grew all around him, with flowers that were almost too brightly colored to look at; the intensity of the colors actually hurt his eyes. He could see the stars twinkling overhead, but there was something...“off” about them. 

There was something “off” about this entire place, actually. The grass was too soft, the landscape to beautiful to be real. He wasn’t afraid, because he didn’t sense any evil at work here, but he also couldn’t shake a sense of unease. 

“Hello, Ben.”

He started, scrambling to his feet and then turning around so he could see who had spoken to him.

He didn’t recognize the other man at first — he was close to Ben’s age, with wavy blond-brown hair, and he was wearing what looked like robes from the golden age of the Jedi. Ben was so shocked to find he wasn’t alone here that it took him a moment to realize that he was speaking to his grandfather. 

“Anakin Skywalker?” Ben had to say the name out loud, to help himself believe it. 

The other man smiled warmly, though his eyes remained tinged with just a hint of sadness. 

“I’m glad we could finally meet, Ben. I’ve been watching you for a long time.”

Ben felt a slight flare of anger, but he pushed it away. He’d let go of all that old rage and bitterness when he’d let go of Kylo Ren. 

Still, there was something he had to know. 

“Why didn’t you appear to me before?” Ben asked. “Uncle Luke said he’d seen you as a Force ghost. I could have really...I could have really used you.”

“I know.” Anakin’s voice filled with regret. “Palpatine pretended to be me, filling your head with the voice of Darth Vader. He kept blocking me from speaking to you, though I never stopped trying. Even though you couldn’t hear me or see me, Ben, I was always, _always_ there; you were never alone.”

Ben could feel his eyes watering, but he blinked back tears. For some reason, he wasn’t ready for his grandfather to see him cry. 

“In fact, I was chosen to shepherd you to this place, to make sure you got here safely,” Anakin went on. “We won’t have a lot of time together, but I want to make it count.”

“What is this place?” Ben asked, finally noticing that he was dressed in his old Jedi robes as well, from when he was a student of Luke’s. It felt strange to be returning to his old self, after living as Kylo Ren for so long. 

“It’s been known by different names to different people,” Anakin said. “But I know it as ‘the world between worlds’ — a mystical place that exists outside of space and time. I can’t tell you how you got here; some secrets are beyond even a Force ghost. There are different pathways that lead here, but you can only find them if the Force wills it.”

“So am I actually not dead?” Ben asked, trying to think of a coherent question to ask. This was quite a lot to take in. 

“Yes and no.” Anakin said. “Technically, you did die when you transferred your lifeforce into Rey. But instead of merging with the Force, you were sent here instead by your mother, who gave the last of her power to open a doorway for you. Now you are drifting in a space between life and death. I can’t tell you how long you’ll be here, or what your end destination will be. The Force has only shown me fragments.”

Ben tried not to feel frustrated. He knew his grandfather was telling the truth, but he just wished this all made more sense. He had already made peace with dying, so why was he being held in this limbo? He had at least hoped he could appear as a Force ghost to Rey, so he could let her know that he was all right, and that he’d gladly die a thousand times more if it meant she could live. 

Ben shut his eyes and breathed deeply, allowing the Force to flow through him and calm him. For whatever reason, the Force wanted him to learn something from this experience, and he would just have to surrender control and embrace whatever happened. 

When he opened his eyes, he saw that his grandfather was still there, waiting patiently for him. 

“Your time in the world between worlds may bring you pain, but at the end will be peace and healing,” Anakin said. “I wish I could stay longer, but the Force is pulling me away.” Even now, Ben could see his grandfather’s form fading, becoming translucent and disappearing into the mist that was creeping over the garden. 

Ben started to panic, afraid to be left alone in this strange place. Yet before he could say, “Don’t leave me,” Anakin reached out and placed a hand on Ben’s shoulder a second before he disappeared. 

“I will always be with you, Ben — don’t forget that,” Anakin said, and then there was a brilliant flash, and suddenly Ben was standing on a balcony overlooking a tranquil lake. 

“Is this...Naboo?” he asked, just as he turned and saw a beautiful woman with flowing brown hair standing behind him. She was wearing a pastel-colored dress, and her eyes were both noble and kind. She stepped towards him, reaching out her hands. 

Ben gaped at her in surprise. Was this really...Padmé Amidala? He’d seen pictures of his grandmother, the famous queen and senator, and in her he could also see so much of his own mother, Leia. As far as he knew, his grandmother hadn’t been Force sensitive, so he wasn’t quite sure how she was appearing to him now. But maybe this strange “world between worlds” could make anything possible.

Padmé laughed gently, sensing his shock and confusion. “No, I’m not a Force ghost,” she said. “I was never a Jedi, but as your Uncle Luke has already learned, the Force isn’t something that should belong to just the Jedi or the Sith. It surrounds all of us, binds all of us together. Whether or not I could move objects with my mind, I was a part of the Force just as much as you were.”

Ben sank down onto a stone bench at the edge of the balcony, and Padmé sat down beside him, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder, just as Anakin had done. 

“So much of the Skywalker story has been tragedy,” Padmé said softly. “Some people might ask if I regretted my choices — to fall in love with your grandfather when there was so much darkness inside him. But I don’t — I never did and never will regret loving him. I never stopped believing that there was still light inside of him, just like your mother never stopped believing in you.”

Ben couldn’t bring himself to look Padmé in the eyes. “But I’ve...I’ve done so many terrible things. I don’t feel like I deserve anyone’s forgiveness. I don’t feel like I...feel like I…”

“Deserve her love?” Padmé gently placed her hand under Ben’s chin and lifted it, so that they were facing each other once again. “You’re talking about the scavenger, aren’t you? Let me tell you this: if Anakin was still worthy of redemption and love, then you are too. 

“Anakin proved there was still good inside him when he sacrificed his life to save our son, Luke. And then, you also gave your life to save someone you loved. Now the Force is giving you a chance to go back: to spend your life with the woman who loves you and forgave you, and to bring good to the galaxy and atone for your mistakes.”

_You’re not worthy...you’ll never be worthy…_

Even though Snoke was dead, Ben could still hear echoes of his former mentor’s insults. To Snoke, he’d never been truly deserving of his Force powers; Snoke saw Ben as too weak to be a master of the dark side, and yet he was also too tainted to go back home and be a Jedi. Could Ben really risk going back to Rey, when he might simply fail again?

He tried to draw strength from the compassion in Padmé’s eyes, and to believe in the future she was promising him. But this whole situation still didn’t make any sense to him; how was he going to “get back” to the real world, when he was trapped here?

“You are worthy, Ben Solo,” Padmé whispered, and then, just as Anakin had, she vanished in a brilliant burst of light. 


	5. A Door in the Darkness

“This has got to be the most idiotic plan I have ever heard of. This is never going to work! You all are almost as crazy as the ridiculous cultists who lived here and attempted to—”

Rey paused for a moment and shut her eyes, forcing herself to take deep, calming breaths. Hux had been complaining since the moment they set foot on Exegol, and he was showing no signs of stopping anytime soon. While Rey was doing her best to ignore him, Poe kept egging him on, and she was growing _extremely_ weary of their arguing. 

“We need to be quiet — Rey is trying to sense the Force, and all this chatter is making it difficult.” Rose turned around and gave both Poe and Hux a stern look. Rey tried to smother a smile. She was sensing the Force just fine, and Rose knew that; they both just needed a break — desperately. And thankfully, Poe and Hux seemed to buy that explanation. 

Rey and her friends walked towards the Sith temple looming in the distance, the structure appearing dark, quiet, and empty. The strange flashes of lightning Rey had seen on her previous trip to Exegol had ceased, and the only sounds she could hear were their own footsteps. 

Rey reached out through the Force, trying to see if she could sense anything amiss. Yet the planet truly did appear to be abandoned; all she felt were echoes of the former darkness that had dwelled here. 

“I think we’re safe to go in,” Rey said, but despite her words of encouragement, everyone stopped outside the entrance to the temple, peering up at the massive stone structure towering above their heads. 

“How do we know this temple isn’t going to just come crashing down on us?” Hux said, glancing around as if trying to find a scientific explanation for how this otherworldly place even existed. Rey already knew he wouldn’t find one; the secrets of the Sith were difficult to uncover, and it was probably wise to leave them buried in the past. 

“This decrepit old temple looks as if it’s barely standing,” Hux went on. “What if luring us here and then crushing us was Palpatine’s final ‘screw you’ to the universe?”

Rey felt a tiny sliver of doubt cutting through her confidence, but she reminded herself of the voice — _Ben’s_ voice, not Palpatine’s — that had brought her here. The Force had led her to Exegol, and the Force would protect her inside this evil place. 

She turned around and faced her friends, taking a moment to look each of them — even Hux — in the eyes. 

“I believe I was meant to come here,” she said. “And I can’t tell you how much it means to have friends who were brave enough to follow me. I don’t believe any harm will come to us inside this temple, but I can’t promise that. Anyone who wants to wait outside, in the Falcon, is welcome to do so.”

Chewie immediately roared his displeasure at the thought of staying behind, and despite the fear they must be feeling, Rose, Poe, and Finn immediately took a step forward. 

“We’re not leaving you, Rey,” Finn promised. “Whatever is waiting inside that temple, we’ll face it together.”

“It wouldn’t make sense to turn back now,” Rose agreed. “And even if it did, that’s not what friends do.”

“Well, I hate to spoil this touching moment, but personally I would like to wait inside the Falcon,” Hux sniffed, and Poe shot him a look. 

“No way — what’s to stop you from just flying off and leaving us stranded here? You can wait outside the entrance to the temple if you want, but we’re not letting you on board that ship alone.”

Hux took a look around the desolate surface of the planet, which seemed to be trapped in a perpetual, eerie twilight, and he shivered slightly. 

“I suppose if being left outside alone and going inside with protection are my two choices, then I’ll go inside the bloody temple. But if it collapses and buries us all, my last words to you all will most definitely be ‘I told you so.’”

Poe rolled his eyes. “As if we expected any different.”

Rey turned back to face the Sith temple, her instincts telling her to run from a place steeped in so much evil but her heart pushing her forward. 

“I’m coming, Ben,” she whispered, and then squaring her shoulders and igniting her yellow saber, she stepped inside. 

***

Rose might not be a Jedi, but as they walked through the drafty halls of the Sith temple, she could clearly sense the dark side here. 

The old stone statues that had once guarded the path to the heart of the temple had collapsed when Rey destroyed Palpatine, and now huge piles of rubble lined both sides of the walkway. Even though Rose knew it was just gusts of wind, she kept thinking she heard voices — dark whispers of ancient evils that were beyond even the worst of her nightmares. 

_It’s just the wind...it’s just the wind…_ She kept reminding herself. And even if it wasn’t, it was probably best to ignore it, and pretend that it was. 

Rey walked in front of the group, holding up her lightsaber to illuminate the path, and Finn and Poe walked side by side right behind her, their blasters drawn. That left Rose, BB-8, and Chewie to bring up the rear with General Hux. 

When they first entered the temple, Rose had kept her blaster pointed at Hux, set to stun, but the further they walked without an incident, she decided that Hux likely wouldn’t be trying any funny business here. He might not admit it, but this place terrified him (Rose didn’t blame him, because it terrified her too). It made sense to stay close to the light side Force user — or _users_ , if Rose’s guess about Finn proved correct. Rose wasn’t even sure if their blasters would work against the kind of ghouls that might be lurking here or—

“I read your file, you know.”

Rose glanced over at Hux in surprise, wondering why he’d decided to break his silence after all this time. As they passed beneath a towering stone archway, a cool gust of wind made Rose’s skin crawl. 

When she didn’t respond, Hux simply continued. “After you and FN-2187—”

“Finn,” Rose interrupted. “His name is _Finn_.”

Hux didn’t acknowledge her point, but he didn’t try to argue with her, either. “I read your file after the two of you escaped from the _Supremacy_ just before the Battle of Crait. I knew plenty about Finn, since he was a First Order deserter, but I wanted to know more about the Resistance mechanic who had helped him so very nearly slip through our defenses.”

“The First Order kept a file on me?” Rose shook her head at the unnerving thought.

“Anyone who can sneak on board the Supreme Leader’s flagship is a serious security threat, and the First Order most definitely wanted to keep an eye on you,” Hux said. “I must say, I was impressed by what I read — even though you very clearly chose the wrong side of the war. You could have risen through the ranks of the First Order quite quickly, based on your skills.”

In his own strange and twisted way, was General Hux actually...complimenting her? Rose gave Hux a puzzled look, trying to guess what kind of game he might be playing. Was he trying to flatter her so that she’d feel sympathetic to his plight and take him back to the Falcon? Well, too bad for him, because she was definitely NOT going to be falling for that ploy. 

“Please don’t insult me by flattering me,” Rose shot back. “I’m not in the mood to be mocked.”

“I’m not mocking you.”

Rose stopped and glanced over at the First Order officer, and found that he did appear to be genuinely serious. In fact, he almost seemed a little hurt that she was doubting his intentions. Once again, she saw the private pain lurking behind those steely green eyes. 

“As I said, you didn’t choose the correct side in this fight,” he went on. “But as a general in the First Order, I learned how to spot talent — and I would have spotted it in you.”

Well, Rose had absolutely no idea how to reply to that, and so she simply kept walking, suddenly unsure of how to process her strange mess of feelings. 

She hated everything Hux and the First Order stood for, but for whatever reason, he did appear to be offering an odd sort of peacemaking gesture. Maybe deep down, he was as tired of the fighting and the conflict as the rest of them were. 

She wanted to probe him more — to ask exactly how he could justify working for such a horrible organization, when Rey held up a hand and motioned for them all to halt. Rose felt her heartrate quickening as she peered ahead and realized they were about to cross the threshold into the worst part of this terrible place: Palpatine’s throne room. 

***

Rey knew she shouldn’t be afraid of the throne room; that evil had already been defeated, and the only threat that remained here was General Hux.

But as she stepped towards the scorched ruins of Palpatine’s throne, her mind was overwhelmed by her memories of that horrible day. She could see the spaceships being flown by her friends in the Resistance as they exploded in blinding bursts of fire. She could see Palpatine’s reanimated corpse, sucking the lifeforce out of her and Ben as she screamed in agony. And then, she could see Ben Solo staring into her eyes for one more second before he collapsed and faded away, after he’d given his life for hers.

_Be with me...be with me...be with me…_ She tried to focus on her mantra, and not those painful memories. She’d keep reminding herself — as many times as it took — that Palpatine was gone, and that Ben was coming back. 

Rey heard soft footsteps behind her, and then felt a gentle hand on her shoulder. 

“We are with you, Rey,” Finn said softly, and Rey gave him a curious look. Had she actually been chanting “be with me” out loud, or had Finn somehow sensed…

“Do we have any idea how we’re supposed to be accessing this ‘alternate dimension’ where Kylo Ren allegedly is?” Hux spoke up, interrupting Rey’s thoughts. “Or do we just have to stand here and wait until something happens?”

Rey didn’t actually know the answer to that — and she was afraid to admit it. The Force had been very vague about what would happen once they arrived on Exegol. Still, she was confident she had come to the right place; she just had to figure out what to do in order to unlock the “door” or “gateway,” or whatever it was that would lead her to Ben.

Rey walked in a slow circle around the throne room, examining the floors and walls for any kind of inscription or marking that might provide a clue. Her friends tried to help her, but since none of them knew exactly what they were looking for, it proved to be a fruitless search. 

Rey felt her impatience growing but she tried to push that feeling away. She couldn’t rush the Force; in a place like this, it was far too easy to slip into the dark side. 

_Look beyond what you can see — reach out — feel the Force flowing through you..._

Rey recalled one of Leia’s lessons, and realized that perhaps she’d been looking at this problem on too much of a surface level. Maybe she wouldn’t be able to find a clue with her eyes; perhaps instead she’d have to reach out and feel it. 

Rey sat down, cross-legged, and closed her eyes. In the background, she could hear her friends talking as they continued searching the throne room, but she let all that fade away until it was only a faint whisper. She could feel the weight of this place — and all its dark history — pressing down on her, but she did not let it restrain her, or tempt her. Instead, she focused on Ben, and how he’d felt in the Force the last time she saw him. 

He was close — she could sense it now. The veil between them was growing thinner and thinner, and in her mind’s eye, she could see a shadowy form emerging from a cloud of mist. Her head started to pound as she kept straining herself in the Force, but she ignored the pain. At last she’d found it — the crack between their worlds that would allow her to pull him back home. 

She reached out with her hand, trying to push through the mist, and she almost thought she could actually see him. Then suddenly her eyes flew open as she gasped in shock, a loud crash breaking her out of her trance. 

She whirled around just as Poe exclaimed, “No, Hux, what have you done!” 

Rey looked down at Hux’s feet and saw a shattered Sith holocron, a thin trail of smoke curling up from the broken pieces of the ancient artifact. 

She barely had time to think, _Why is it smoking?_ before the smoke stretched into a ghostly form — a faceless wraith in a billowing robe. The ghost — or whatever it was — let out a shriek so piercing they all covered their ears in agony.

Just what _had_ Hux unleashed? 


	6. World Between Worlds

When Ben Solo finally regained consciousness, after his grandmother disappeared in a burst of light, he found himself standing in the midst of a pitch-black void. 

The absence of light — the absence of _anything_ — in this place should have been terrifying, or at least disconcerting. However, he found that all he felt now was curiosity. This was a completely different experience from the places he’d met his grandparents. The garden where he’d seen Anakin, and the Naboo lake where he’d seen Padmé, might not have been real in a physical sense, but those visions had at least reminded him of real places. This void was something else entirely. 

Although he was surrounded by darkness without form or shape, he found he still had a sense of “up” and “down.” And while he couldn’t see a floor or ceiling, he was definitely standing on _something_. 

He took a hesitant step forward, and then another, a bit relieved to discover he was walking on relatively solid and level ground. Even though this place had no source of light, he could still see his hand in front of his face. He supposed there was no use in trying to understand it; he simply had to try to accept what the Force was attempting to show him here. 

“Welcome, Ben Solo.”

The figure appeared in front of him so suddenly that Ben actually tripped and fell backwards, in his haste to avoid a collision. A hand immediately reached out to him, and a white-robed woman pulled him to his feet. 

The mysterious figure was a female Togruta whom Ben had never met before (or at least, he didn’t think he had). Her face appeared young but her eyes looked impossibly ancient — older, even, than his parents’ friend Maz Kanata. She was carrying a tall staff with a ring at the top, and an owl-like creature perched on her shoulder. 

“My name is Ahsoka Tano,” the woman said. “I may not be a Skywalker, but your family was like family to me.”

“You’re...my grandfather’s Padawan, aren’t you?” Ben said, struggling to recall some of Luke’s history lessons. Not for the first time, he wished he’d been paying better attention. “And then you fought my grandfather, when he was Vader. Luke said you were one of the greatest Jedi to ever live.”

Ahsoka laughed lightly, her eyes sparkling with amusement. “I haven’t gone by the title ‘Jedi’ in a long time. I prefer to think of myself as something beyond that. The Force simply IS; I’m not certain it’s wise to label it.” 

Well, labels had certainly gotten Ben into plenty of trouble; he thought again of the name he’d given himself — Kylo Ren — in a feeble attempt to bury his past. But “Ben Solo” had never truly left him, and Kylo Ren had eventually become a role he hated playing, despite his feelings that he’d come too far to give it up. 

“You are coming to the end of your journey in the World Between Worlds,” Ahsoka went on. “A door is opening for you, and you need to be ready to go through it — if that’s what you choose. It won’t be open for long.”

As he pondered the familiar words, Ben realized the mysterious voice he’d heard when first waking up in the World Between Worlds was Ahsoka’s. He wondered if she’d been watching over him all this time. 

Ahsoka gently tapped her staff on the ground, and the void around them suddenly filled with countless portals, the too-bright light almost blinding Ben. When his eyes finally adjusted, he took a look around and realized that each of the portals — which were bordered by elegant white lines that glowed in the darkness — contained a scene from his past, from the moment he was born until the moment he’d “died” on Exegol.

Panic rose within him, and he started backing away from the portals. 

“I...I don’t know if I can watch this,” he said, knowing that somewhere in this sea of portals would be a window into the moment of his life where he’d hated himself the most — the moment on Starkiller Base when he’d driven a lightsaber through his father. 

Ahsoka’s expression was compassionate but unyielding. “You have to make peace with your past before you can go forward, Ben. These scenes will not be easy to view, but you have to accept that they are a part of you. Remember, I’ll be with you, so you won’t have to face them alone.”

Ben could feel himself shaking as he glanced around the void, overwhelmed by all the memories from his past. 

_He saw himself as a toddler, shrieking with glee as he ran down the hallways of the Millennium Falcon, with his father stomping behind him, pretending to be a Wampa._

_He saw himself snuggling on his mother’s lap, as she told him stories about her home planet of Alderaan, and how much his grandparents Breha and Bail Organa would have loved him, if they’d gotten a chance to meet him._

_He saw himself a little older, with “Uncle Lando” teaching him how to shoot a blaster. Han thought his son wasn’t old enough yet, but Lando did things the way Lando wanted to do them...which is why he’d always been one of young Ben’s favorite people in the galaxy._

_He saw his first few experiments with the Force, both fascinated and frightened by his ability to move objects with his mind._

As Ben watched himself grow older, he saw more and more darkness infecting those memories. The happy times grew further and further apart, as Snoke/Palpatine’s influence grew. 

_He saw himself sitting on the floor in his bedroom, clutching his knees to his chest as he listened to his parents argue in another room about his future. They’d sensed the darkness within him, and they didn’t know how to address it._

_He saw himself at Luke’s academy, trying to follow instructions and walk the Jedi path but unable to get Snoke’s voice out of his head. He remembered feeling so tired of hearing these dark temptations, day after day, and he started wondering if he should just give in._

_He saw himself putting on the Kylo Ren mask for the first time, hoping it would smother the doubt and guilt he still felt over what had happened with Uncle Luke. Yet instead of bringing him closer to the legacy of Darth Vader, the mask just gave Snoke another way to mock him, and whenever Ben looked at himself in the mirror he was reminded of his own inadequacies._

Ben relived every terrible day he’d spent serving the First Order, and walking back through those long years filled with misery nearly broke him. He’d tried so hard to embrace the darkness, but he was always haunted by the light. It wasn’t until he met _her_ that he’d finally felt hope again…

_He saw himself slowly taking off his glove and then reaching out to Rey in the Force, as she stretched out her own hand to him from where she sat, lightyears away from him on the island of Ahch-To. He’d been afraid to reach out to her, to expose himself like this and let himself be so vulnerable with another person. But when their hands finally touched, he knew that their souls would be bound together forever._

_He saw himself in Snoke’s throne room, right after he told Rey, “You come from nothing. You’re nothing.” He regretted his words the second after he’d said them, and he could see how much they’d hurt her. He wished he could take those words back, because Rey was_ everything _._

_He saw the look in Rey’s eyes when he’d finally come to his senses and shown up on Exegol to help her take on Palpatine. Her eyes had sparkled with hope and joy, and even though he didn’t deserve it, she’d forgiven him. It was one of the few moments in Ben’s life where he felt like he’d actually done something right._

Ben could sense Ahsoka behind him, urging him to move on to the final few portals. But he couldn’t stop lingering in front of this one, and simply taking in the sight of Rey. Maybe this would be the last time he ever saw her, and he wanted to stretch this moment out for as long as possible. 

“I didn’t deserve her,” Ben said quietly, his eyes never leaving Rey. “I loved her — and I always will. I hope she’s able to find peace; she deserves all the happiness in the galaxy.”

“You speak as though you’ll never see her again,” Ahsoka said, her tone questioning. “Are you still doubting the power of the Force to bring you home?”

“No, I…” Ben wasn’t able to look Ahsoka in the eyes. “I guess I’m just...I’m just terrified I’ll ruin things for her. I’ve already made so many mistakes, and broken her heart more than once. How do I know I won’t mess up again?”

“You don’t,” Ahsoka said matter-of-factly. “But your father, your uncle, and your mother all believed in the promise of your redemption enough to give their lives for you.” She paused and smiled softly. “I know I said labels weren’t important, but the name your family gave you — ‘Ben’ — does have power. As I’m sure you’ve heard, you were named for an old friend of mine — Obi-Wan “Ben” Kenobi. He brought hope to the galaxy in the midst of a very dark time. Now it’s your turn to do the same.”

Ahsoka reached into the folds of her cloak and pulled out a lightsaber hilt — the lightsaber that had once belonged to Kylo Ren. She held it out to Ben, but he couldn’t bring himself to take it from her. 

“I don’t want that anymore,” Ben said. “I threw it away; I couldn’t bring myself to take it with me to Exegol. I can’t be that man again.”

“I understand why you threw it away,” Ahsoka replied. “For you, that act was a symbol of how you’d severed your connection to Kylo Ren. But this blade itself is not evil; it’s time for you to heal the kyber crystal, and make this weapon into something new.”

Kylo stared down at the weapon in Ahsoka’s hand, still hesitant to pick it up. Finally, he realized she wasn’t going to move on until he took it, and so he accepted it reluctantly, trying not to let all the memories that came with this cursed blade drown him. 

“Healing this crystal will be a difficult task, and unfortunately, it’s not one I can help you with,” Ahsoka said. “But there are two others waiting for you here in the World Between Worlds who can.”

The owl-like creature launched itself from its perch on Ahsoka’s shoulder and then vanished into one of the portals. When Ben looked back towards Ahsoka, he saw that she too was gone. 

But in her place were the two people he had been desperately hoping to see. Yet he was also dreading this encounter, because he didn’t know how in the galaxy he was even going to begin to try to make things right. 

It was his mother, Leia, and his uncle, Luke. 


	7. A Portal Opens

“What the hell, Hux? What the _HELL_?”

Poe scrambled to back away from the smoking pieces of the Sith holocron, cursing the former First Order general all the way. 

“You think I intended for this to happen?” Hux shouted back. “I told you it was a stupid idea to come into this temple in the first place!” 

Rey knew there was no time now to ask Hux what had actually happened, though she assumed he had been poking around some ancient artifacts and then accidentally dropped one. She didn’t know what kind of Sith sorcery had summoned this “ghost” (or whatever it was), but the sudden surge in the dark side of the Force let her know this was a serious threat. 

The spectre began shrieking in the ancient Sith tongue, and the pieces of the broken holocron rose off the ground and reshaped themselves into a sword that then flew into the spectre’s hand. 

Rey didn’t give the spectre a chance to make the first move; she swung at it with her lightsaber, the yellow blade humming as it sliced through the air. The spectre brought its holocron blade up to meet hers, and to her surprise, the spectre’s weapon appeared capable of a feat few non-Jedi weapons could claim: it was strong enough to resist a lightsaber. 

Poe, Chewie, Rose, and Finn all began firing at the Sith spectre with their blasters, but the spectre seemed to have a protective forcefield around it and the blaster bolts ricocheted back at Rey’s friends. One of the bolts narrowly missed hitting Poe, who cursed again. 

BB-8 beeped frantically, and Poe called out, “Any idea how to defeat this, Rey?”

Even after studying the Jedi texts from Ahch-To, Rey knew there were still many mysteries about the Force she didn’t understand, and this appeared to be one of them. She had a feeling that if she could get past the spectre’s blade and touch it with her lightsaber, she could defeat it, but the spectre had shockingly fast reflexes despite the fact it was basically just a cloud of mist. 

Rey kept hammering at the spectre with her saber, and it kept blocking her with its holocron blade. She noticed the spectre was trying to force her backwards, towards the shelf of holocrons Hux had apparently discovered. Rey realized the spectre probably wanted to smash more of the holocrons, and release additional Sith spirits. 

Rey tried to hold her ground, but as she stepped backwards, attempting to find a better defensive stance, she tripped over a rock and fell down, her lightsaber flying out of her hands. She frantically reached out, trying to call the saber to her, but something about the spectre’s dark aura was making it difficult for her to access the Force. 

The spectre loomed over her, its unholy shrieks piercing her ears and making her head throb with pain. She reached — one last, desperate time — for her saber, only to watch it zip past her. 

For one terrible second, she thought the spectre had called the saber to itself. But no — the spectre appeared just as shocked as she was, and it quickly dissolved and then re-formed to avoid being sliced by the blade. 

Rey followed the flight path of the lightsaber and then watched, in stunned excitement, as the blade snapped into the hands of Finn. 

He gripped the hilt, his eyes filled with both wonder and fright, as everyone realized what he’d done. 

“You can use the _Force_?” Poe exclaimed, but Finn didn’t even seem to hear him. Finn had the same look on his face Rey had that night on Starkiller Base, when she’d called the Skywalker saber to her during her fight with Kylo Ren. She could practically hear the Force singing around Finn, fully unlocking his Jedi powers. 

“Go, Rey!” Finn shouted to her, above the spectre’s continued shrieking. “I can hold this Sith creature off!”

“What? No!” Rey jumped to her feet, looking around for another weapon she could use. She wasn’t about to leave her friend behind to face this ghost alone. 

That’s when she noticed the glowing portal that was appearing behind Finn. He’d apparently spotted it before she had, and had already deduced what it meant. 

This was the “door in the darkness” that Leia had told her about — a passageway into the mysterious World Between Worlds. And on the other side of this shimmering portal Ben Solo was waiting for her. 

_Waiting for her to bring him home…_

However, the timing was certainly NOT good. She glanced around at all of her other friends — Poe, Rose, Chewie, and BB-8 — and finally back at Finn, who was gripping her lightsaber with the confidence and determination of a Jedi. 

“I can’t leave you all!” Rey cried, as Finn took a swing at the spectre with Rey’s saber.

“But this is it, Rey!” Rose insisted. “We’ll be alright.” And even though they were in the midst of a battle, she took the time to give Rey a fierce hug, holding her friend tightly. Leaning in closer so that only Rey could hear, she whispered, “You don’t know how long this portal is going to be open — go get the man you love.” 

When the two women finally pulled apart, both of their eyes were shining with tears. 

“I will,” Rey said, her voice breaking. Then turning around, she took a deep breath and stepped through the portal, ready to face whatever waited for her beyond the veil.

***

“Mom...Uncle Luke…”

Ben couldn’t bring himself to say anything else as he stared at them. He’d had a feeling he would encounter both of them at some point during his journey through the World Between Worlds, and he realized this was the final wound he had to heal before he could make peace with his past. 

“My dear son — I’m so proud of you,” Leia said, reaching out to him, and Ben had to shut his eyes and take a deep, shuddering breath to prevent himself from bursting into tears. 

“How can you say that?” he asked, his voice anguished. “After everything I did to you, and Dad, and Uncle Luke… I feel like I could spend a lifetime saying I’m sorry, and it would never be enough.”

“But in the end, you did reject the darkness, and you did do the right thing,” Luke said, stepping forward. “And that’s why we’re so proud, Ben. I know your feelings about me are probably complicated — I wasn’t always the best teacher, and I didn’t do enough to help you in your struggle against the dark side. I should have seen what Snoke and Palpatine were doing. I shouldn’t have assumed you were too far gone.”

“And I never should have sent you away,” Leia said, her eyes shining with emotion. “I see now how alone and isolated you felt. I should have been there with you, to help you fight those dark voices in your head. Can you forgive me, Ben? For not understanding your pain and doing more to help you?”

With that, Ben finally broke. He dropped to his knees and wept, all those years of hurt, darkness, loneliness, and self-loathing flooding out of him, washed away by his tears. Leia was instantly beside him, her arms wrapping around him as he buried his face in her robe. 

“I’m so sorry,” he choked out, and Leia hugged him tighter. 

“I forgive you,” she said. “I wish I could keep you here with me, so that we can make up for all the time we lost, but the World Between Worlds is only a temporary stop for you, at least for now. It’s time for you to relight your saber, and go home to the person who’s desperately waiting for you.”

_Rey._

He glanced back down at the lightsaber in his hands, still not sure if he was brave enough to ignite it. 

“How do I atone for everything I’ve done?” he asked. “The First Order destroyed so much...how do I make things right again?”

“That’s an answer you’ll have to explore for yourself,” Luke said. “Maybe you’ll train a new generation of Jedi. Maybe you’ll help rebuild cities bombarded by war. Maybe you’ll help former stormtroopers adjust to civilian life, and find their own peace and hope in a new galaxy. The future is now yours to define — and Rey will be there to help you.”

Ben clearly saw the choice in front of him now. It would be easier to just retreat back into the void offered by the World Between Worlds, and surrender himself completely to the Force. But he knew that wasn’t the right choice; the harder road — the road of redemption and atonement — would lead him down painful pathways, but it was what he had to do. He would go back to the real world, and begin to fix what he had broken. And he would make sure Rey never felt alone again. 

He turned on his lightsaber, and it flickered to life, the blade flashing red, and then blue, and then back to red and threatening to wink out altogether. But Ben didn’t give up — as his mother and uncle vanished back into the void, he let go of all the pain and resentment and anger he’d been holding onto for so long. He asked the Force for forgiveness, and then he accepted that forgiveness, promising to do better. 

And as he did, the red slowly leached out of his kyber crystal, in the end leaving him with a glowing white blade. Behind him, a new portal opened, and through it stepped a certain scavenger from Jakku that he’d feared he’d never see again. 

“Ben!” She called out to him, her eyes coming alive with joy and hope. 

Ben experienced one last moment of doubt; did he really deserve this second chance? He didn’t want to hurt her, and he didn’t want to disappoint her. Would he be able to live up to the hopes she had for him? 

Well, he vowed to try.

With that final thought, he started running towards Rey as fast as he could. 


	8. Home At Last

Rose had no idea what was happening right now. Rey had just walked into some mysterious, glowing portal, and Finn was using Rey’s lightsaber and the Force to fight a Sith ghost who was using a blade assembled from the broken pieces of an old holocron. She’d seen a lot of strange and unexpected things since joining the Resistance, but sometimes life still managed to surprise her. 

Fortunately for them, the Sith spectre was just as stunned by all of this as she was. Its attention was distracted by Rey and the portal just long enough for Finn to maneuver around the holocron blade and stab the spectre with Rey’s lightsaber. 

The spectre let out a blood-curdling scream so loud and piercing that all of them dropped to their knees and covered their ears with their hands in agony. The holocron blade disintegrated into a cloud of dust, and the spectre vanished immediately after, blown away by a sudden gust of icy wind. 

One by one, all of the other holocrons on the shelf combusted and turned into ash. They were apparently linked to the spectre somehow, which meant that when it was destroyed, all the other holocrons were too. 

After the last holocron exploded, a heavy silence fell over the Sith temple, and Rose and her friends stared at each other in shock, no one quite sure what to do or say. 

“Well, that was really something.”

Poe was the one who managed to find the words to speak first. “As soon as Rey gets back, I’m leaving this hellhole and never coming back again. I’m officially done.”

“ _If_ Rey comes back,” Hux amended, watching the portal suspiciously. “Are you sure you don’t want to send someone in after her?”

Chewie immediately volunteered, but Finn shook his head. “I think this is a part of the mission she has to do alone. But I’m sure she’ll be all right. I’m not sensing as much dark side energy here as before, now that those holocrons are gone. Whatever this portal is, it’s definitely not from the Sith.”

“And speaking of sensing stuff, when were you going to tell me that you were Force sensitive?” Poe said, clapping Finn on the back. “You were so amazing I can’t even be mad at you for keeping the secret from me. How long have you known?”

As Poe and Finn launched into their own conversation, Rose sank down onto a piece of rubble, all the energy suddenly draining out of her. She’d been so tense during the fight, and continued to be preoccupied by her worries about Rey, that she just needed to take a minute to breathe. 

Chewie and BB-8 both gathered around Poe and Finn, eager to hear the complete story, but to Rose’s surprise, Hux chose to sit down next to her. 

“So, how long has Rey been in love with Kylo Ren?” he asked, and Rose twitched, unable to hide her reaction to his question. _That_ certainly wasn’t the first thing she expected to hear coming out of his mouth. 

“What makes you think that?” she asked, a little impressed that someone she’d thought was so self-absorbed would pick up on something subtle like that. 

Hux rolled his eyes. “Oh, I knew Kylo Ren was in love with that scavenger as soon as we rescued him from Starkiller Base, and he had this ridiculous look on his face. He wasn’t even mad she’d beaten him! He kept saying he was trying to find her because she was the last Jedi, but I knew the truth. I just couldn’t prove it.”

Rose couldn’t believe she was actually discussing this topic with Hux, of all people, but since he seemed to be pursuing this conversation in good faith, she decided to humor him. 

“How do you know that Rey feels something for Kylo in return?” Rose asked, and Hux gave her a look. 

“Please — I’ve never heard someone utter the name ‘Ben Solo’ with such breathless angst before,” he said, and Rose found herself suddenly laughing. Hux could actually be...funny? In his own sarcastic, uptight way, of course. 

“My friend’s feelings are her own business,” Rose said, not wanting to betray a secret Rey might not yet be ready to share. “But if she wants to spend the rest of her life with Ben Solo, then I support her in that. I believe he can be redeemed.” 

“And what’s in the future for you, Rose Tico?” Hux said. “Now that you’ve beaten my side so badly.” She could hear the bitterness in his tone as he said “my side,” but she had the sudden sense that he wasn’t bitter towards her, or even necessarily the Resistance. It almost sounded like he was bitter he’d wasted some of the best years of his life serving an organization like the First Order, that had given him nothing in the end. 

“I don’t really know,” Rose answered honestly. “I want to help rebuild the broken parts of the galaxy, and I’ll carry on the mission of the Resistance, even if I’m not a soldier anymore. But exactly what that looks like...I guess that’s something we’re all trying to figure out.”

“Well, I hope you find what you’re looking for,” Hux said, breaking eye contact as his gaze drifted off into the distance. Rose realized he was speaking to himself just as much as he was speaking to her. 

Maybe if Kylo Ren could find the light, then Armitage Hux could find it one day too. 

***

As Ben ran towards Rey in the World Between Worlds, she seemed impossibly far away. She was reaching out her hand to him, but otherwise she seemed chained to where she stood, unable to step towards him. 

“Run, Ben!” she called out to him, almost panicked, and he glanced behind his shoulder, wondering if she could see something he couldn’t.

To his horror, he realized the construct created in the Force — that had allowed him to communicate with Ahsoka, his mother, and his uncle — was now collapsing. Time and space were folding in on themselves, sucked into a black hole that now threatened to suck him in as well. 

This was what Ahsoka had meant when she warned him that the “door” back to the real world would only be open for so long. If he didn’t run hard enough or fast enough, he might be trapped here forever. 

_I can’t let that happen — I WON’T let that happen._

Ben wanted this second chance more than he had ever wanted anything in his life, and he was willing to work hard for it. He kept his focus on Rey and blocked out everything else; it didn’t matter that everything was collapsing behind him. He knew this was just one last metaphorical lesson from the Force, symbolizing how his past was gone and how he had to fight for the future ahead of him. 

He could feel the Force bond between himself and Rey growing stronger; she was funneling her power towards him, urging him on. Then, with one final burst of speed, Ben sprinted towards her, just as the ground disappeared below him.

Rey grabbed hold of his hand, and together they tumbled into the portal behind her. 

***

Rey and Ben crashed through the portal and fell, in a heap, onto the cold, rocky ground of the Sith temple. Rey had already felt Finn defeat the Sith spectre, through the Force, and knew that her friends were all right. 

Ben was lying on his back, coughing violently (the fall must have knocked the wind out of him), and Rey was instantly by his side, staring down at him in concern. 

Once he’d finally caught his breath, they kept staring at each other, unable to look at anything else. Rey couldn’t believe it — she couldn’t believe they’d actually done it. Ben Solo had returned from the World Between Worlds, and he was here with her right now, as solid and real and alive as she was. 

She couldn’t help herself — she started laughing and crying at the same time, overwhelmed with emotion. She carefully helped him sit up, as he’d done for her on Exegol after bringing her back to life. 

“Is this real?” he asked, still afraid to take his eyes off her, as if she’d disappear the second he looked away. Rey could feel her smile lighting up her entire face as she reached up and brushed a strand of dark hair out of his eyes. 

“Oh, it’s real,” she said, and then wrapping her arms around his neck, she pulled him towards her and kissed him — hard. She knew what she was doing this time, and she most definitely wasn’t going to stop at just one kiss—

“Hey, we’re here too, you know!”

Rey and Ben suddenly broke apart, and Rey glanced over and saw Finn, Chewie, Poe, BB-8, Rose, and Hux all staring at them. Rey’s face immediately reddened, and she could see Ben’s face was an even brighter shade of crimson than hers. Finn and Poe were watching the two of them in shock, but Rose was grinning. And even though Hux was rolling his eyes, he didn’t seem surprised. 

Rey stood to her feet and then reached out her hand, helping Ben to stand also. There was so much she wanted to say to him right now, but she didn’t even know how to begin — especially since, as Poe had so unceremoniously reminded her, they now had an audience. 

“I, uh, can’t believe that actually worked,” Finn said, trying to ease some of the awkwardness. 

Ben looked around at Rey’s friends, warily, and she realized how uncomfortable this must be for him. 

“Listen, I...I need to…” Ben swallowed. “I’m so sorry. I honestly can’t believe you all came here to try to save me. I certainly don’t deserve it.”

“I believe everyone deserves a chance at redemption,” Rose said quietly, quickly catching Hux’s eye, so he’d know that applied to him too. “I’m not gonna pretend that this won’t be hard for all of us, but we’re going to try. We know it’s what your mother would have wanted.” 

With that, Chewie — who before had seemed to be hesitating — stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Ben in a tight hug. The Wookie mumbled something, and while Rey couldn’t be sure, she thought it sounded like, “Welcome home, Ben.” 


	9. Epilogue

Rey laced her fingers through Ben’s, as they walked together across the sands of Tatooine towards the site where Rey had buried his mother and his grandfather’s lightsabers.

It was Ben’s decision to come back here. After Rey had described to him what she’d done following the battle on Exegol, he said he wanted to visit the old Lars homestead with her, to pay his respects to his family.

Rey hadn’t left Ben’s side since she pulled him out of the World Between Worlds a week ago. She kept fearing that if she let go of his hand, that black hole would suck him back into the void, and she’d never see him again. 

It was strange but wonderful to have him here with her; they were communicating in person, not just through a Force bond, and they were no longer enemies. Although truthfully, they’d never been fully enemies — their relationship had always been more complicated than that. But now they’d admitted exactly what they felt for each other, and Rey still wasn’t over the thrill she felt every time he told her that he loved her. 

They stopped beside the place near the abandoned house where Rey had buried the sabers, and together they knelt down on the sand, quietly watching the twin suns set in the distance. Rey could sense Ben’s churning emotions through the Force, and though she wanted to say something to him, to comfort him, she knew she needed to give him some space. She had to let him process these emotions in his own way, and in his own time. 

Understandably, there’d been a good deal of awkwardness between her friends in the Resistance and Ben on the flight away from Exegol last week. Some of Rey’s friends seemed to have a hard time reconciling their prior feelings towards Kylo Ren with their desire to give Ben Solo a second chance for Rey’s sake. All of them had already participated in some long, hard conversations, and there would be many more to come in the weeks ahead. They’d all keep working on their issues, and Rey had faith they could eventually all move forward together and find healing. 

Ben’s hand slipped from hers for just a moment as he reached into his cloak and pulled out a piece of parchment. He’d written down some words ahead of time that he wanted to say at the burial site; he’d been afraid he’d forget something, or wouldn’t phrase it correctly. There were some important things he felt he needed to express to his family, before he could begin his journey to atonement. 

“I’m not sure if you’re listening or not right at this moment,” he finally said, his voice quiet as he addressed the ghosts of the past. “But I felt I had to come here, and just...sit in this space for awhile. 

“I know our family has a complicated, painful history with the planet of Tatooine. Luke’s guardians were murdered here. Anakin and his mother Shmi were slaves here. Obi-Wan spent so much of his life in exile here, due to the actions of my grandfather. 

“All this pain is part of the fabric that makes us who we are, as Skywalkers. But I don’t want pain and darkness to be our legacy. That’s why I wanted to come back here, and say I’m sorry. I’m promising to do better, and I’m going to break the cycle of death and violence.”

Ben took a handful of sand and slowly let it slip through his fingers, the tiny grains blowing away with the wind. 

“I didn’t know you, Shmi Skywalker,” he said. “But I can feel your presence, here in this place. I just wanted you to know that the love you had for your son, and your belief in his ability to become a great Jedi, weren’t in vain. If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be here today. 

“I wish Anakin had gotten a second chance, and that he could have lived a long, full life with his family. But I vow I’m going to use the second chance I’ve been given wisely, and to spend every single day of my life trying to make the galaxy a better place.

“I’m going to keep fighting the darkness, both within myself and in the galaxy. I’m going to help the people I’ve hurt, and rebuild what the First Order tore down. 

“Shmi, you started this family, and I’m going to carry on the legacy as best I can. I’m going to try my hardest to make the Skywalkers proud.” 

Ben turned towards Rey, his eyes shimmering with emotion, and she gently reached up and wiped away a tear that was sliding down his cheek. 

“That was beautiful, Ben,” she said. “Shmi may not have been a Jedi, but I believe she still heard what you said.”

Ben took both of her hands in his and looked down at her, the depth of feeling in his dark eyes making her feel a little breathless. 

“You know you don’t have to take this journey with me,” he told her. “You have nothing you need to atone for. I don’t want you to feel like you have to tie your fate to mine.” 

_“I did want to take your hand...Ben’s hand.”_

Rey remembered telling him that during their battle on the wreckage of the Death Star. Although she’d healed him, that still hadn’t been the right moment for her to join him. He was still holding onto Kylo Ren, and he needed that final vision of his father to truly begin the process of letting go. 

Now, Kylo Ren was gone forever, and wherever Ben Solo’s journey might lead, she wanted to be with him.

“I know I don’t have to tie my fate to yours,” Rey said solemnly. “But I want to. I love you, Ben Solo, and we’re going to rebuild this galaxy together.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him, as the twin suns finally dipped beneath the horizon and twilight fell. 

“You’re not alone anymore,” she whispered when they finally pulled apart, and Ben smiled.

“And neither are you.”

*** 

Thank you to everyone who read “Be With Me...Always,” an alternate ending to Episode IX! I love these sequel trilogy characters so much, and I definitely don’t want to stop writing about them. I’m planning to write a sort-of sequel to this story called “Heirs of the Force,” exploring more of Rey and Ben’s life together after the events of Episode IX. And please send me the links to your own stories or to post-Episode IX fics that you love — I need more Reylo in my life!!! 


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